By Alan Snel
LVSportsBiz.com
Just about everything at Vegas Golden Knights games have a presenting sponsor, including hat tricks when hats and ball caps come raining down on the T-Mobile Arena ice after a VGK player scores his third goal of the game.
So when Golden Knights forward Mark Stone faked out San Jose Sharks goalie Martin Jones and slid his third goal of the playoff game into the net during the VGK’s 6-3 win in Game 3 Sunday night, not only did several hundred billed hats come flying down on the ice, it also gave some publicity to the hat supplier brand, ’47. The Knights’ partnership has ’47 as the presenting sponsor of the hat trick.
The team’s ice crew skated out and collected the hats, which were stuffed into plastic trash bags that you would use to collect leaves, said Eric Tosi, the Knights PR chief.
Where did the bags go?
“Storage,” Tosi said as VGK players chatted with media at their lockers Monday.
The Golden Knights’ team store at T-Mobile Arena gave a 10 percent discount on hats for fans after the Knights’ win, which gave Vegas a 2-1 lead in games over the Sharks in the Best-of-7 first round match-up between the Pacific Division rivals.
The hat trick caused the T-Mobile Arena to explode with roars and flying hats while giving ’47 a promotion mention on the center-hung Jumbotron. The ’47 Golden Knights hats are in the $25-$40 range. Find out more about the ’47 brand history here.
Tosi said the team has no specific plan for the hats. He noted the hats cannot be donated to any group or person because of health guidelines. Hey, you never know what could be growing in those hats tossed by fans these days.
As a reminder, here is a clip on Stone’s hat trick.
For you team historians of the two-year-old franchise, Golden Knights forward William Karlsson had the franchise’s first hat trick Dec. 31, 2017 when he dove, swung his stick and swatted the puck into an open net against the Toronto Maple Leafs on New Year’s Eve during Season 1. Karlsson then recorded a natural hat trick against the Calgary Flames March 18, 2018. During this season, Karlsson’s linemate, Jonathan Marchessault, scored three against Pittsburgh Jan. 19. Here’s Karlsson’s first hat trick.
Game 4 is Tuesday at the Big Ice House on the Strip. See you before the game at the LVSportsBiz.com Top of the Escalator segment.
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